


You Can Have Your Silence

by ThePendragonQueen



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Blood, Homesick Lance (Voltron), Hurt Lance (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Insecure Lance (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron) Angst, Lance (Voltron) Angst, Lance (Voltron)-centric, Langst, Oneshot, Sad, Whump, angsty, except Hunk, hunk appreciates lance always, hunk is nice to lance, silent!Lance, the team doesn't appreciate lance, the team is mean to lance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-19
Updated: 2019-03-19
Packaged: 2019-11-24 10:27:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18164009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePendragonQueen/pseuds/ThePendragonQueen
Summary: Keith just wishes that Lance would shut up for once. But as the old proverb says, be careful what you wish for. Lance happened to overhear Keiths wish and now he refuses to talk to them. Things can only go bad from here.





	You Can Have Your Silence

Lance walked into the dinning area for breakfast. "Why, good morning my fellow paladins! Are you having a splendid morning?" he asked too happily for the others.

Pidge groaned as she looked up at Lance with her tired eyes wishing he would stop talking so loud. There was a round of 'good mornings', some more awake than others.

"So, what's on the menu today, Chef?" Lance asked looking at Hunk.

Hunk smiled brightly. "I cooked up some eggs and bacon! Or, what I think are eggs and bacon. Something close to it at least?"

Lance beamed. "Perfect! Let's eat."

"Way ahead of you," Keith grumbled stuffing his face with the space eggs.

Lance smirked over at Keith. "Ah, eating competition I see. Who can finish first? I've got good money on my self. I once entered a pie eating contest and came in third," Lance beamed proudly, puffing out his chest and pounding it.

Keith rolled his eyes. "I am not having an eating competition with you Lance. Just let me eat in peace."

"Someone got up on the wrong side of the bed today," Lance teased. "Anyone else up for a competition? Hunk? C'mon, on the count of three, ready? One... two... three!" Lance shouted, flinging eggs into his mouth as fast as possible.

"Lance. Lance!" Shiro shouted to get his attention. Lance's head popped up in confusion, bacon sticking out of his mouth. "No eating competitions, you're going to choke. Just eat your breakfast normally, preferably _without_ eggs flying everywhere. We've got training after this."

Lance nodded, sucking the bacon into his mouth. "Sir, yes Sir!" he cried saluting with a mouth full of food. Keith rolled his eyes in annoyance and Pidge groaned, obviously annoyed to be up this early.

Once they finished they got their armor on and headed to the training deck to work with the simulators. "Today we'll be working with the simulators," Shiro explained. "They'll be attacking from all sides. The idea is to make it seem like we're on a Galra ship with Sentries coming all around for us. It has happened before and, unfortunately, will probably happen again so we have to be prepared for it. Ready? Allura, commend battle sequence level 3."

The team fought vigorously. Keith sliced and dodged, Pidge rounded the robots up with her bayard, allowing Shiro to knock them out with his Galra arm. Hunk tried his best to keep off the large groups while Lance stood a ways away, shooting any of the robots that were coming up from behind and blasting them before they could get too close.

Lance watched as one creeped up behind Keith, sword raised. Lance aimed and shot it right in the head, inches away from Keiths own. Keith jumped back and stumbled. "Lance! Watch where you're aiming! You almost hit me!"

"But I didn't! Don't worry, my aim is amazing. After all, I am the team sharpshooter," he said proudly.

Pidge rolled her eyes. "Who established that?"

"Me, I did," Lance smiled. He continued to shoot off the robots who no one else seemed to see or were causing too much trouble.

"Lance! I could use some help over here!" Hunk shouted as he attempted to shoot down large groups of Sentries but some where escaping and getting away and he couldn't get them all at once, they were too spread out.

"I gotcha buddy!" Lance shouted as he shot them down one by one. Shiro was there, also trying to help Hunk and saw a shot headed right towards him. He ducked and rolled out just in time to miss the shot.

"Lance, be careful!" Shiro reprimanded him.

"Sorry!" Lance yelled back trying to keep his good, fun natured attitude but he was starting to get annoyed. Almost all of his shots were on point and hit where they needed to and yet he was still getting yelled at for it all. He was trying his best and he thought he was doing pretty good but pretty good isn't good enough. He could hit _almost_ all his points but he had to hit _all_ his points, then they wouldn't get angry with him. Lance knew that. Maybe if he shut his mouth for once and concentrated he would do better as a paladin and actually be of some use and worthy. But that would never happen because Lance needed words, he needed to talk. He didn't do well in the silence. It was almost like he used it as an escape to get out of a bad situation or a coping mechanism to get him through hard or awkward situations. For him, talking was like breathing, it was a necessity. But maybe he should start trying to talk less and concentrate more.

Lance was so deep in thought that he didn't hear the robot creep up from behind him. "Lance! Look out!" Keith yelled to him. Lance spun around as fast as possible and shot the robot right before it swiped at him with his sword. As he hit it the sword fell clattering to the ground.

"Stop simulation!" Shiro yelled aloud. Immediately the robots stopped and fell to the floor limply before vanishing.

"Goddamnit, Lance, will you pay attention for once!" Keith yelled at him, obviously upset the training had ended. He had barely broken a sweat.

"Keith!" Shiro chastised him. It was a warning to shut up. Shiro turned to look at Lance in a much more calming way and little anger seeped through his voice. "Lance, you have to make sure you're paying attention. Stay alert from all sides, not just the front, that's how you'll get hurt." Lance nodded. He was thankful Shiro wasn't yelling at him bc he was already yelling at himself and so was Keith and he didn't need another person to add to that.

"All right, that's enough training for now," Shiro said and everyone walked out and headed their own way. Lance headed off to his room to strip off his armor and grab more comfortable clothes. As they went different ways Lance noticed Keith glaring at him. Lance shot a look back but it wasn't as full of hatred as usual. He was tired and too angry at himself to be angry at anyone else. Hunk must have noticed because he felt a large hand on his shoulder.

Lance looked back to see Hunk smiling encouragingly at him. "Hey, bud, you're alright, you did good today. Maybe you should get some rest, relax now."

Lance smiled back gratefully and nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I will." Lance watched as Hunk smiled before walking away. Lance hesitated then called out to him. "Hey, Hunk?" Hunk stopped and turned to look at him with a questioning look yet a smile on his face. "Thank you," Lance said, lower and softer than usual.

Hunk smiled widely. "No problem, buddy. I'll be in the kitchen relieving some stress if you need me." Lance nodded and headed to his room. He was always thankful for Hunk. Since he was such a long time friend he was one of the only ones who truly knew how he felt for the most part. He was at least aware of his low self esteem issues and he always did his best to help him out and Lance could never thank him enough for it. He owed his life to the big guy.

Lance walked to the showers, cleaned up and put on a nice, new set of clean clothes. It felt amazing to get out of his sweaty old ones. His shower was long and emotional, full of thoughts and ideas that he had gotten used to but wished they would leave him alone. As he got dressed he shook his head to try to rid him of those thoughts and think of something else but a few lingered in the back of his mind. They never seemed to want to shut up and leave him alone.

Lance walked back wondering what he was going to do next. Maybe he could go see some people, see what they were talking about and join into the conversation. Hopefully they wouldn't find him so annoying like they usually do.

Lance found Pidge first. She was in one of the "computer rooms" as Lance had resorted to calling it. They were filled to the brim with technology Lance had never seen before but Pidge seemed to understand each one like the back of her hand. Lance found it quite amazing and often wished he had a talent or hobby he was that good at.

Lance stuck his head into the room looking through the large computers to see if he could find Pidge. "Pidge? Hello?" He asked into the large, cluttered room. "Pidge..." he called as he walked further into the room looking for her. He finally found her sitting in the middle of the room, crisscross on the ground and staring into her computer, that was hooked up to many other machines with wires, rather intently. "Hey, Pidge, whatcha lookin' at?"

Pidge didn't even bother to turn her head. "I'm just looking through all the different softwares trying to see if there's anything I can use to track down my brother."

"Anything I could do to help?" Lance asked politely. He knew he didn't understand anything about this technology but he wanted to at least be useful in some kind of way.

"No, you wouldn't understand any of it," Pidge said, voicing his thoughts. It somehow hurt more when she said it aloud than when he just thought it in his head.

Lance nodded. "So... how's it going? Looking for your brother, I mean. Are you close to finding him or-"

"Lance," Pidge interrupted. "No offense but, not now okay? Now is really not the time. I'm trying to do this and I really don't need you distracting me." Her voice was frustrated and lacked any kind of patience.

Lance bowed his head. "Right. Sorry. My bad. I'll leave now. Sorry," Lance said as he quickly backed away out of the room. Pidge opened her mouth to apologize for being so short with him but only looked up to find him already walking out the door and she figured to just let him go. He was Lance after all, he would get over it.

Lance walked down the hailway, those terrible thoughts seeping into his head again. He wished they would just shut up, even for a couple minutes. As he walked down he saw the kitchen door and heard some clanging from inside as he got nearer. He knew Hunk was in there, cooking to try and relax. For a second Lance thought about going in there and talking to Hunk about his troubling thoughts. He was his best friend after all, he would understand and help him through it, he always did, but Lance couldn't seem to bring himself to walk in and do it. He had already burdened Hunk with his problems before, there was no point in telling him all these things now, he was trying to relax and calm down himself after all. Plus, his problems where stupid and we're only caused by his own insecurities and ideas. If he could just get them to stop, preferably by himself, then he wouldn't have to worry Hunk about them. How was Hunk going to help anyways? He couldn't do anything Lance had already tried. So Lance continued to walk right past the kitchen and to the break room.

As Lance reached the door to the lounge area he steadied his hands, took a deep breathe, shook his head to rid him of his thoughts and planted a large smile on his face. He opened his mouth to shout a happy "Hello!" to everyone in there but stopped short, hearing someone say something else instead.

"-Lance is just so annoying and immature. He can't even pay attention for five minutes." It was Keith. He was angry at Lance again, that was nothing new, and he knew full well that Keith talked about how annoyed he was with him behind his back but standing there in the doorway, watching Keith sitting next to Shiro and Allura, complaining about him, it was something surreal.

"Keith," Shiro said to him. It sounded like a sympathetic warning. Who Shiro was being simpathetic to, Lance wasn't really sure.

"I'm just stating the obvious. He just doesn't know how to be serious for once," Keith argued. Shiro opend his mouth to say something back but Allura cut him off before he could speak.

"I have to say it but, Keith is right, Shiro. He jokes around too much and never pays attention. How are we ever supposed to defeat Zarkon if he doesn't understand how to be serious during a time of need? Not to mention all those idiotic flirting attempts he's always making with me. It has gotten so old." Allura shook her head angrily and Lance frowned from where he was standing. It was true, all of it, every last word she said. It was all true.

Shiro actually seemed a bit angry at the two and Lance could've sworn he saw him glance at them quickly. "With all due respect, Princess, I don't think that's fair to him. Yes, he jokes around a lot but I think that's just his way of coping with his situation. I know you guys don't understand but, we ripped the other three away from their families and their homes, Lance included. It's hard for them. They didn't ask to fight in this war and they're only doing their best. And Lance does take things seriously when it comes down to it." Lance's mouth lifted at the corners a bit, a smile playing on his lips. Hearing Shiro stick up for him like that, it was refreshing. Not many people ever stuck up for him and said anything nice about him at all. Iverson always called him a "bumbling idiot" and most of the other people in his class seemed to agree. After all, he was only a cargo pilot, not a fighter pilot.

Lance's smile was short lived.

"Well, not nearly enough," Allura huffed.

"And why are you sticking up for him anyways?" Keith questioned Shiro angrily. "You always complain about him never taking things seriously too, it's not just us. We all complain. You loose your patience with him just as much as I do-"

"Keith-" Shiro warned.

"And it's true and you know it! He never takes anything seriously, he's too busy telling stupid jokes all the time! _Maybe if he would just shut up for once-"_

"Keith!" Shiro yelled, glaring at Keith intently. He was telling him to drop the conversation. Now. It was done. Keith grumbled but said no more. "Now," Shiro started, "what other training excersises do you think we could try to make us better as a team?" Shiro changed the topic but continued the conversation with them.

Lance stood in the doorway shocked. For a second he didn't know what to do. His body had frozen and he couldn't think. Hearing that Shiro was just as annoyed with him as Keith was hurt. He had argued for him once but that was it. He had told Keith to drop the conversation but never argued about any of the accusations that were thrown his way about finding Lance annoying.

Lance finally regained himself and quickly but quietly backed out away from the doorway. He turned on his heel and headed down the hall back to where he had come from. His eyes sting and his mind rang with the words that had been said. _"Maybe if he would just shut up for once-"_ Shut up. Yeah, shut up. Lance could do that. He could shut up. They were right, he joked around too much. If he shut up then he would be able to concentrate more and do better on the mission and help his team out more. He just had to shut up.

Lance walked swiftly down the hall, his footsteps loud. Just as he reached the kitchen Hunk walked out. "Oh, hey Lance! How's it going buddy?" Hunk asked happily. Lance continued to walk, ignoring Hunk all together. "Lance?" Hunk asked as he watched his friend walk past him without a glance to him. Hunk reached out and grabbed Lance by the shoulder, stopping him dead in his tracks. "Hey, bud, what's wrong?" Lance shook his head slightly.

Hunk pulled Lance so that his body was facing him and his eyes were looking into his. Lance's face was hard. His mouth was pulled into a tight line and his eyes seemed icier than ever. "Lance, are you okay?" Hunk asked in a worried tone. Lance simply gave a slight nod. Hunk didn't believe him a bit. He knew his friend, he was not okay, but before he could get anything out to ask Lance jerked his shoulder away from Hunks hand and continued to briskly walk down the hallway. Hunk watched as he walked away, wondering if he should go after him but decided that maybe he should just let him cool off alone and try to talk to him a bit later.

Lance walked into the elevator. He was going to hit the button that lead him to the rooms but decided against it. Instead, he hit the top floor and waited as the elevator shot up. When he exited Lance looked around. No one was to be seen in the mazes of hallways. Lance walked down and simply looked quietly. He didn't know what this floor was used for and he was pretty sure he had never been here before. He walked down a couple of long, winding hallways before stopping. The corridors were dimly lit and he could no longer hold it in. Lance leaned his back against the wall and slid down to the floor. He let out a loud sob as his body fell to the floor like a bag of space rocks. He crumpled, his body folding in on itself, as sobs racked through him, shaking his very being.

Lance sat there for quite some time, letting his eyes empty out onto the white marble floors. Once he seemed out of tears he sat there for some time, hiccuping and sniffling, trying to wipe his eyes and pull himself together. He eventually managed to get it together enough that he had stopped sniffling and shaking. Now all that was left were his thoughts.

Shut up. Yeah, that's what they wanted him to do. They all wanted him to shut up. Pidge wanted him to shut up and go away, Shiro wanted him to shut up and pay attention, Allura wanted him to shut up and stop flirting, and Keith wanted him to shut up and grow up. Hell, a couple of them had even actually told him to shut up before, he had just never listened or thought they had been joking around but, no, they really meant it. He was pretty sure even Hunk and Coran sometimes wished he would shut up about his problems.

 _They want me to shut up?_ Lance thought bitterly. _Well then I will. I won't bother them anymore, I'll only work on making myself a better Paladin and team mate. I'm only here to defeat Zarkon, not make friends. Plus, I'm probably not even meant to be the blue Paladin. I'm probably just a place holder. There's definitely people out there who are way better than me. But until then I'll work hard and get better and I'll stay quiet the whole time. I won't say a word so that I don't annoy them. They want silence? Well they can have it._

From that point on Lance vowed to never talk unless absolutely necessary which it probably wouldn't be. Lance didn't have that much time to himself until the alarms blared and he quickly hustled down to the hangars to get into blue and help fight the battle.

During the battle Lance was silent. It was weird for everyone, not hearing jokes through the comms. It wasn't until they had finished that they even noticed. During the battle they were too zoned in. They were finally able to concentrate and get done what needed to be done. Lance did his job. He stayed quiet and followed orders. He concentrated as he made his shots, never once missing or almost hitting a teammate. The fight went smoothly and they were done and back in the castle before they knew it. They went to the main area for a quick debriefing although there wasn't much to say. The entire time no one said anything to Lance. For the most part, they seemed to forget he was even there. Once they were done they went their separate ways and got ready for dinner.

All for dinner Lance said no words and all the next day Lance never spoke either. And the next day and the next. He stayed silent and concentrated. He waisted no time and spent most of his time training in the training deck if no one was in it. He had to get better, he had to be a better Paladin. He rarely slept instead opting out for exercise or training and ate less, he didn't want to spend much time in the dinning room with the other paladins. No one seemed to notice or care that he was either missing or not talking. For the most part, Keith and Allura seemed happier and Shiro and Pidge seemed more at ease. Hunk and Corran were the only ones who actually seemed to care at all and even then it wasn't much. They seemed confused for the most part. A couple times they tried to ask Lance what was going on but Lance refused. He simply nodded, showing that he was fine and walked away trying to avoid further questions.

After about two or three weeks there started to be some confusion. Why was it suddenly so quiet? What was wrong? What was missing? As the fight continued, morale seemed to lower. The joyesness of the team sunk and everyone seemed to be in worse moods. People were cranky and grumpy and jokes were never heard and seemed to be forgotten.

It had been almost a month since Lances vow of silence. He had gotten stronger and thinner. His muscles were more pronounced but his face seemed tired and dark bags rested under his eyes. He was getting better, he could tell. He never missed a shot and the missions were shorter and more efficient than ever before.

One day Lance decided to walk into the break room. Hunk looked up at him in surprise. A large smile quickly formed on his face. Lance never seemed to come into the break room anymore. If he was here that meant he might be willing to open back up again. Hunk felt he had tried everything in the book but just couldn't get Lance to talk to him. Maybe him coming in there was a step in the right direction.

"Hey, Lance! Want a cookie? They're chocolate chip!" Hunk beamed as he thrusted the platter toward Lance. Lance shook his head and waved a hand signaling that, no, he didn't want any. Lance had given up on sweets a long time ago. Hunk frowned but nodded and took the cookies away and continued to hand more to Keith, Shiro, and Pidge who also sat on the couch.

Lance took a seat away from everyone else. The team started a conversation but Lance wasn't sure about what, he really wasn't paying attention. He wasn't sure why he had walked into there in the first place. Lance was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard his name.

"Right, Lance?" Lance looked up to see Pidge asking him a question. Lance looked at her in confusion. "You used to take Hunk and sneak out at night all the time back at the Garrison," Pidge offered again. Lance nodded. Shiro and Keith tossed him a look although they were different. Shiros look seemed one more of worry while Keith's look was more like one of anger and frustration.

Lance was lost in thought again as they started talking about a plan to infiltrate a Galra ship and receive some information.

"Lance. Lance!" Keith yelled at him. Lance looked up, his eyes wide. "Lance, we're talking about the mission we're going on tomorrow will you please just pay attention for a couple minutes!" Lances eyes narrowed but he nodded.

Lance listened as they talked until someone said, "Uh, helloooo. Earth to Lance?" He looked up to see Pidge waving her hand in his face.

"God, Lance, pay attention! We asked you a question! Can you stay outside and watch our backs or not?" Lance nodded. Keith only seemed to growl. "Can't you talk? How about you maybe contribute to this plan we're trying to make rather than sitting their feeling sorry for yourself or whatever the hell you've been doing!" Hunk flinched. This was not good. Lance had started to make progress and come back out again, this would not help. It would only push him further back into his shell he had created.

Lance's eyes narrowed as he fumed at Keith but said nothing. "Lance! I'm talking to you! What is your problem?" Keith yelled angrily.

"Keith," Shiro warmed him.

"What. Is. Wrong. With. You?" Keith asked through gritted teeth. "Are you deaf? Why don't you come back to Earth and maybe join our conversation! It's pretty important if you ask me!"

Lance's head was ringing. He was pretty confused. First Keith wanted him to shut up but now he wanted him to talk. He was too confusing.

"God, really? Out of all the times to actually _shut up_ you chose _now_?" Keith yelled angrily.

"Keith!" Shiro shouted putting a hand on his chest to calm him down and push him back into his seat. Lance simply stood up and left the room quietly, his hands balled up into fists. He walked to the training room and worked on his shooting. He didn't bother showing up to dinner.

The next day came and they woke up early to get a move on the mission to infiltrate a Galra ship. They had split up into groups. Keith, Pidge, and Lance went one way while Shiro and Hunk went the other. Both groups had their own duties. Lance, Keith, and Pidge would go down to the control center so that Pidge could extract some information while Hunk and Shiro went to look for something else. Lance wasn't really sure what, he hadn't been paying much attention to their job.

As they snuck down the hallway and reached to door they opened it with Pidges magical technology powers Lance had decided she contained and quickly knocked out and shot everyone that was in the room. Pidge and Keith ran inside to work on the computer while Lance stayed out of the room, hidden behind a turn in the wall. He laid on the floor and waited for any Sentries to come his way and try to get into the room so he could shoot them down.

The entire ride there Lance had said nothing and Keith had yelled at him for that. He threatened him to talk during the mission if something ever got out of hand. Lance rolled his eyes. Obviously, he wasn't dumb. Even before Lance had talked during missions when necessary, he wasn't that stupid. If something ever got out of hand or he needed help or had to help out another Paladin he would talk and answer, he wasn't tying to jeopardize the team, he simply didn't talk unless necessary. If no words where needed then what was the point of talking if he was only going to annoy everyone else?

So now Lance laid hidden, watching for any movements to shoot at. After a couple minutes Lance heard footsteps come down the hallway. There were a couple Sentries headed their way. Lance hit a button on his armor, it was used to alert Pidge and Keith that people were coming their way and to be ready in case. If things got out of hand, Lance was instructed to come over the comms and tell them that something was going on. For that purpose, all comms were left on. Until then, Lance simply pressed the button so that he wouldn't have to talk aloud and give away his position.

Lance watched as they got closer. They were definitely coming for the door. Lance calmly took aim and shot them down, one by one, never missing a shot. He watched as they fell and more proceeded to come. He didn't bother contacting Pidge and Keith, he had this situation under control. He was taking them down like it was child's play.

Lance steadied his gun and aimed at one of his targets. It was the last of the Sentries in the group. His finger glided over the trigger, waiting, waiting, waiting. He pulled it and the Sentry fell over. At that moment Lance heard something behind him, a movement of some sorts. He whipped his head around to look but it was too late. As he turned his head he saw a Galra standing there, sword in hand, plunging it down into him. The point of the sword made contact with his armor and pushed right through like it was butter. It pushed further and further down. Lance let out a strangled cry filled with pain. He grabbed his gun and shot the Galra as quickly as possible but it was too late, he had already done his damage. The Galra managed to pull out his sword just as Lance hit him straight between the eyes. Lance screamed in pain and grabbed at his side, blood spilling out by the gallons.

When they heard the scream through their comms everyone froze. It was a scream that came from a voice that they hadn't heard in so long they had almost forgotten what it had sounded like. "Lance?" Shiro asked through the comms. It was an unnecessary question. It was, undoubtedly, Lance McClain's scream. "Lance!"

Everyone shouted through their comms trying to get through to Lance as they sprinted towards him. All they earned in return were Lances groans as he gripped his side, trying to keep the blood from spilling out but it was hard. There was too much blood. There was thick red blood, sticky and metallic, it coated Lances side and hands. Then there was a purple liquid as well, sticky but thicker. _Galra blood_ , Lance had decided. From the one he had shot in the head right after it had stabbed him.

Lance screamed and groaned in agony and pain. He tried to call out to the others but his voice didn't want to work. His throat felt soar and rough like it had screamed too much in the past couple minutes than it was used to.

After what seemed like ages Keith ran out of the room and up to Lance. "Lance, Lance!" He yelled trying to get him to pay attention to him. Lance looked up at him. His vision blurred for a second and he blinked to clear it. "Lance, what happened?" Keith asked as he kneeled down next to him and helped him hold his wound. Lance barely managed to lift his finger and pointed to the Galra who was laying dead by his side.

Keith cursed. "This isn't good, this isn't good," he said frantically trying his best to stop the bleeding but it wasn't working. Lance rested a hand in Keith's that were desperately working. It was a motion that said 'stop'.

Keith looked at Lance with wide, sad eyes. "Lance," he spoke, his voice shaking. "Why were you so angry at me? Why wouldn't you talk? What happened?" He didn't mean to bombard Lance with questions, he knew he couldn't answer them in the state he was in but he wanted to know. Lance was dying, why did he hate him so much for the past month?

Lance didn't get the chance to answer. The others came barging in. Hunk ran in shoving Keith aside to get to his best friend. "Lance! Oh my god, Lance, what happened I'm so sorry we should have never left you alone I should have been with you, Lance, please," Hunk was unashamedly crying.

"Whatch out," Shiro said as he moved Hunk to the side so he could examine his wound. Pigde grabbed on to Keith's arm in shock and terror. Keith stared at Lance still wondering the answers to his questions and if he would ever find out what was wrong. "Lance, are you hurt anywhere else?" Shiro asked in an attempt to be productive. Lance didn't answer. He was still trying to process and answer Keith's first question: _"why were you so angry at me?"_

"You... you..." Lance started, staring directly at Keith's eyes. "You wanted... silence," Lance said between gulps of air. Keith's eyes went wide. "Well... now you... have it..."

Keith stared at Lance with large eyes. He had heard him. Lance had heard him all those days ago talking about how he wished Lance would just shut up for once. And he had. He had gotten what he wished for. A wave of guilt washed over Keith as he stood there, frozen, sweat dripping down his forehead. He wanted to vomit.

Lance let out a pained scream as pain tore through his body. He gripped his side weakly and cried. "H-help. It... h-hurts," he whimpered.

"Shiro, we have to do something!" Hunk said, tears still steadily making their way down his face.

"Okay, I'll carry him back to the lion, Pidge, you pilot, Keith, Hunk, make sure we don't get attacked on our way there. Hold on, Lance, we'll get you there soon," Shiro promised as he directed orders. He picked up Lance bridal style and effortlessly carried him down the hallways back to the Green Lion as quick as possible. Luckily, they had only brought Green due to its cloaking ability and Lance did not have to pilot and there was no worrying about what to do with Blue.

They ran down the hallways as quick as possible, Pidge leading the way to the clearest and fastest path back to the lion as possible while Hunk and Keith shot and sliced down anyone that got in their way. The entire time Lance's words played on repeat in Keith's head. He should have never been so hard on him. He had hurt his feelings, hurt him, really bad, enough to make him break and stop being himself. Guilt found it's way back up again but Keith pushed it down. Now was not the time.

They got back to the Green Lion and Pidge immediately through it into gear and zoomed off to the castle as quick as possible. "Allura, get a pod ready, we've got an emergency," Shiro ordered over the comms.

They pulled into the hangar to find Coran and Allura waiting for them. "What happened? Is everyone okay?" Allura asked frantically.

Shiro walked out holding a bloody Lance who was unconscious and barely breathing. "Pods. Now." Shiro ordered as he ran down to them trying to get Lance there as quick as possible, mumbling to Lance to 'hang in there' the entire time.

They reached the pods and threw one open and shoved Lance in there just in time. His breathing was shallow and irregular and coming in only every once in a while. He was almost dead. The others watched as the pod crystallized making Lance barely visible.

Hunk was still sobbing for his best friend while Keith stared at Lance in guilt and shame. "What happened down there?" Allura asked. Shiro caught her and Coran up on everything that had happened and gone wrong.

"Keith, what was it that Lance said? Something about you asking for silence?" Pidge questioned looking at Keith curiously.

"I..." Keith trailed off not really sure what to say.

Shiro glared at him but put a hand on his shoulder and spoke for him. "Some things that should not have been said were said and Lance overheard. We hurt him. Badly."

" _I_ hurt him," Keith corrected.

"No. We all hurt him in some way, shape or form," Shiro corrected him trying to give him comfort but it made it no better.

Allura looked puzzled. "Is this about when we were talking-"

"About how annoying we think Lance is? Yes. And he heard _every last minute of it_ and then we had the _audacity_ to wonder what was wrong with him. Us. We were what was wrong with him. We hurt him," Keith shouted angrily.

Hunks eyes widened, tears still brimming in them. "That day, when he walked past me, that's when it all started, that's why he was upset. I knew I should have gone after him but I just let him walk away. He's my best friend I should have known better than that," Hunk said, obviously distressed.

Shiro put a hand on Hunks shoulder as well. "We all messed up. _All of us._ I messed up too and we all should have done things wildly different but there's nothing we can do about it now. So now I suggest we relax and wait for Lance to come out. We know what we did wrong and now we can fix it. When Lance comes out things are changing, for all of us not just him. We need to work together as a team and be a team. We need to treat each other like a team, or better yet, like a family." Shiro looked around the room for any confused or questioning faces but met nothing but nods of agreement.

Eventually everyone went off to bed but Keith stayed. He stayed, staring at the pods frosty glass, watching Lance, hoping he got better as quick as possible.

Keith was there when Lance fell out of the cryopod. It was safe to say Lance recieved the biggest, most beautiful and longest group hug to ever exist in the castle, if not of all space.

**Author's Note:**

> Langst!!! Ah yes, Langst, my favorite. Be sure to check me out on my tumblr, "Langsty_Langst_Lance" which is all about- you guessed it- Langst. Hope you guys enjoyed this story and if you did pleased hit that kudos button and leave a comment telling me that you liked it and maybe even why! And if you didn't, I'm sorry to hear that, please tell me why in the comments and I'll try to work on that in future stories.


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